View Full Version : Ford to nuke 40-45% of it's Blue Collar workforce
royalfan5
9/14/2006, 01:37 PM
Just announced on CNBC. Ford is going to offer buyouts to every one of it's employees to reduce it's employment levels. That's a lot of folks out of jobs.
NormanPride
9/14/2006, 01:38 PM
This should surprise nobody. Make better cars, dammit.
I feel bad for the workers. :(
According to the WSJ, Ford and the UAW are offering to buyout all of the UAW workers.
BigRedJed
9/14/2006, 02:37 PM
Didn't you just say "offer" buyouts? From that I take it to mean the RIF will be voluntary, at least initially, and they expect a lot of people will jump. Not necessarily a bunch of people out of jobs, but definitely a lot of people making transitions.
royalfan5
9/14/2006, 02:42 PM
Didn't you just say "offer" buyouts? From that I take it to mean the RIF will be voluntary, at least initially, and they expect a lot of people will jump. Not necessarily a bunch of people out of jobs, but definitely a lot of people making transitions.
They want a lot of people to jump because 30% of the white collar workers will be gone too. The buyout is more of a way to placate the UAW, and Ford wants the workers gone ASAP, so people will self-select their way out of Ford quite quickly.
OklahomaTuba
9/14/2006, 02:45 PM
Damn. Thats too bad.
My wife just got a brand new Acura TL as her company car, and that thing is amazing. For the same price she could get a Buick.
Its no wonder the US cannot compete. Hope that changes soon. :(
royalfan5
9/14/2006, 02:48 PM
Damn. Thats too bad.
My wife just got a brand new Acura TL as her company car, and that thing is amazing. For the same price she could get a Buick.
Its no wonder the US cannot compete. Hope that changes soon. :(
It's hard to compete with blah products and huge legacy costs.
Didn't you just say "offer" buyouts? From that I take it to mean the RIF will be voluntary, at least initially, and they expect a lot of people will jump. Not necessarily a bunch of people out of jobs, but definitely a lot of people making transitions.
Yeah. I'm sure since the union has approved the buyout, it will be something that a lot of people will look into. Especially those close to retirement.
OklahomaTuba
9/14/2006, 02:51 PM
It's hard to compete with blah products and huge legacy costs.
Exactly.
The other thing I noticed about the American cars was the lack of technology available in them.
The German and Japanses cars had ALL the toys like the real-time navi, blue tooth, DVD audio, etc. And, at prices more than competitive with the American Products.
Another area the Good ol USA is losing our advantage in. It ****es me off.
I have no doubt Brian Britt is the reason for this. Give me a few hours and I should have a nice 3 paragrah rant on the subject.
Obviously the US cars are a little behind some of the foreign companies, but I still say the unions are the bulk of this problem.
royalfan5
9/14/2006, 02:53 PM
Exactly.
The other thing I noticed about the American cars was the lack of technology available in them.
The German and Japanses cars had ALL the toys like the real-time navi, blue tooth, DVD audio, etc. And, at prices more than competitive with the American Products.
Another area the Good ol USA is losing our advantage in. It ****es me off.
I have no doubt Brian Britt is the reason for this. Give me a few hours and I should have a nice 3 paragrah rant on the subject.
decades of chronic mis-mangement will do that to you.
RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
9/14/2006, 02:54 PM
Thank the unions for the betterment of the economy......in Japan.
skycat
9/14/2006, 02:56 PM
Exactly.
The other thing I noticed about the American cars was the lack of technology available in them.
The German and Japanses cars had ALL the toys like the real-time navi, blue tooth, DVD audio, etc. And, at prices more than competitive with the American Products.
Another area the Good ol USA is losing our advantage in. It ****es me off.
I have no doubt Brian Britt is the reason for this. Give me a few hours and I should have a nice 3 paragrah rant on the subject.
U.S. companies make a lot of the modules that those toys rely on. At least in European cars.
Trust me on that one. Oh, and Buy Mercedes!
royalfan5
9/14/2006, 02:58 PM
Thank the unions for the betterment of the economy......in Japan.
don't underestimate the idiocy of the management of the Big 3 over the years, especially at GM. That's accounts for quite a bit of the problems. Not that the Unions don't have a lot to do with it, but the unions aren't the ones in charge of product development and were going on ill-advised diversification campaigns.
OklahomaTuba
9/14/2006, 03:05 PM
They should bring back the Oldsmobile.
That right there would save the US auto industry.
royalfan5
9/14/2006, 03:07 PM
They should bring back the Oldsmobile.
That right there would save the US auto industry.
Only if they start building indestrucible Cutlass Supremes again.
I have no doubt Brian Britt is the reason for this. Give me a few hours and I should have a nice 3 paragrah rant on the subject.
cutting and pasting doesn't take that long does it? ;)
I must be getting old because I kinda like the Buick Lucerne and the Ford Fusion and 500.
However, I drive a pickup.
I sure like my 14 year old Toyota.
Runs like the day I bought it.
I'm just sayin'.
OUHOMER
9/14/2006, 07:49 PM
Obviously the US cars are a little behind some of the foreign companies, but I still say the unions are the bulk of this problem.
i think so too
OklahomaTuba
9/14/2006, 08:03 PM
cutting and pasting doesn't take that long does it? ;)
For the genuis I provide on a constant basis, yes, it does.
OCUDad
9/14/2006, 08:30 PM
For the genuis I provide on a constant basis, yes, it does.And I, for one, have always admired your genuis. Even one genui would have been enough, but Mother Nature blessed you with two.
Preservation Parcels
9/14/2006, 08:31 PM
Only if they start building indestrucible Cutlass Supremes again.
Three years ago, I sold my '79 Cutlass Supreme 5 speed on the floor. It was still going strong. What was I thinking?!
SoonerInKCMO
9/14/2006, 08:54 PM
I must be getting old
Yep.
Vaevictis
9/14/2006, 08:55 PM
Obviously the US cars are a little behind some of the foreign companies, but I still say the unions are the bulk of this problem.
Over the past 35 years or so, GM has hemmoraged something like 50% of its market share. That's a management issue, because even if unions are the bulk of that problem (a hypothesis I'm not sure I agree with), good management would have found a way to solve it a long time ago.
slickdawg
9/14/2006, 08:56 PM
God hates Ford, plain and simple.
royalfan5
9/14/2006, 09:10 PM
Three years ago, I sold my '79 Cutlass Supreme 5 speed on the floor. It was still going strong. What was I thinking?!
I wish I would have kept my 79 too. I did terrible things to that car, yet it always ran.
BOOMERBRADLEY
9/14/2006, 09:11 PM
I dont' know....My mom just bought a Lincoln Zephyr and that thing is tight on the inside and out. DVD navigation, 6 disc...etc
That being said, I still want a foreign car :D
OklahomaTuba
9/14/2006, 09:11 PM
Over the past 35 years or so, GM has hemmoraged something like 50% of its market share. That's a management issue, because even if unions are the bulk of that problem (a hypothesis I'm not sure I agree with), good management would have found a way to solve it a long time ago.
Well, its not like the Unions decided that it was a good idea to have 5 different car brands that all have basically the same damn car.
If only they had Dr. Z...
OklahomaTuba
9/14/2006, 09:15 PM
Forget the Cutlass, give me a Tornado...
http://65.182.187.19/IMG/cache-270x195/1966-oldsmobile-toronado-jay-leno-fa-1600x1200-270x195.jpg
sooneron
9/14/2006, 09:21 PM
Well, its not like the Unions decided that it was a good idea to have 5 different car brands that all have basically the same damn car.
If only they had Dr. Z...
Wow, for once I whole heartedly agree with you. UAW is about 20% of the problem here. **** poor management, bad engineering/design, and marketing killed the brands.
How many models was Ford making back in the eighties that got decent gas mileage that still delivered some performance?
BajaOklahoma
9/14/2006, 09:23 PM
The actual percentage of each US car that goes into paying the salary and benefits for the auto workers would surprise most people.
OUinFLA
9/14/2006, 09:25 PM
The actual percentage of each US car that goes into paying the salary and benefits for the auto workers would surprise most people.
surprise me?
seriously
OklahomaTuba
9/14/2006, 09:27 PM
I bet it only costs about 10,000 to make a Yukon.
OCUDad
9/14/2006, 09:28 PM
I bet it only costs about 10,000 to make a Yukon.And that's in yen. :D
Frozen Sooner
9/14/2006, 09:28 PM
Well, its not like the Unions decided that it was a good idea to have 5 different car brands that all have basically the same damn car.
Hey, why is this suddenly about Chrysler?
;)
Horrible horrible mismanagement coupled with an inability to effectively manage manpower is a recipe for disaster.
You were right on when talking about how German and Japanese vehicles-especially at the lower end of the luxury scale-just have more amenities and seem to be designed better than their American counterparts. While the Benz doesn't have Bluetooth (dammit) it does have iPod integration, a dealie-bobber that's not really a car starter but actually runs a second motor under the hood to warm the oil pan and heat the cabin, GPS, all that other good stuff.
royalfan5
9/14/2006, 09:36 PM
The Germans have to deal with unions that make UAW look like East Popcorn State, and do okay. Hell, even Renault makes money with all France's goofy labor laws. Sure the U.S. companies have high costs associatied with labor costs, but a lot of that the management of the companies brought on themselves by lacking vision during the good times, and giving in way too easily at times.
OklahomaTuba
9/14/2006, 11:07 PM
Doing business in Germany sucks. Even the Germans don't like it anymore and seem to be fleeing the place.
I believe they build a lot of cars here now in non-union shops. I know Tulsa was flirting with a Japanese automaker a few years ago after right to work passed, but it went to Alabama I think.
Okla-homey
9/14/2006, 11:10 PM
I read somewhere that the US auto industry spends more on employee benefits than it does on steel. Those absurdly extravagant UAW pension and healthcare packages are what's taking them down...that and the fact there is no word in the Japanese language for "towtruck.";)
OklahomaTuba
9/14/2006, 11:15 PM
They invented a word for towtruck.
Its Mitsubishi.
royalfan5
9/14/2006, 11:24 PM
I read somewhere that the US auto industry spends more on employee benefits than it does on steel. Those absurdly extravagant UAW pension and healthcare packages and decades of ****-poor management and ignoring the customer are what's taking them down...that and the fact there is no word in the Japanese language for "towtruck.";)
fixed
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